(heh) Yup. In many cases, the less Beckey says, the harder it's gonna be.

Beta from a friend: "So, you'll head down the grade that used to be a road but is totally overgrown until you see a path go up to the right. It's really hard to see, so go slow; seriously, you'll miss it. When you find it, it doesn't really look like a trail cuz it's so steep. Veggie belay and lots of loose dirt -- and it's STRAIGHT up. Makes Constance or Baring look mellow. Do this for like 45min to an hour until you get to a tricky spot where you have to third-class around a huge outcrop of rock. I've tried 'shwackin' around it, but there's no real way to do it. So, around the rock to the left, then keep trending left until you reach a cliff band, and then just go straight up again until you break out of the slide alder and devil's club and then head west along the ridge top."

Beckey: "Gain the ridge."

Awesome. Thanks, Fred. But it's hard to fault someone who did all this incredibly epic work wearing wool trousers and hobnail boots thirty years before I was even born. Even at his advanced age (120? 130? How the hell old is Fred?), he's harder than I'll ever be.

OwenT: Do yourself a favor and buy all the Beckeys; you won't regret it.